Deutsche Bank AG Sells 1,290,885 Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Deutsche Bank AG reduced its holdings in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 12.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,912,099 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,290,885 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG owned about 1.41% of Sempra worth $781,769,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new position in shares of Sempra in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in Sempra in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Sempra in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. TCTC Holdings LLC grew its holdings in Sempra by 265.2% during the 4th quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 336 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 244 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Sempra during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Price Performance

SRE opened at $75.92 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $49.49 billion, a PE ratio of 16.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.63. The business’s 50-day moving average is $70.72 and its two-hundred day moving average is $80.67. Sempra has a 1 year low of $61.90 and a 1 year high of $95.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.47.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.47 by $0.03. Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The business had revenue of $3.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.73 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.13 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th were paid a $0.645 dividend. This is a boost from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.40%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 20th. Sempra’s payout ratio is currently 58.37%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on SRE. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Sempra from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Sempra from $92.00 to $78.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Guggenheim dropped their price target on Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Sempra from $93.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, UBS Group downgraded Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $95.00 to $78.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $80.54.

Insider Activity at Sempra

In other news, Director Cynthia J. Warner acquired 700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $70.65 per share, for a total transaction of $49,455.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 8,759 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $618,823.35. This represents a 8.69 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.93, for a total value of $225,717.15. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 13,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,139,236.65. This trade represents a 16.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders acquired a total of 9,319 shares of company stock worth $651,676 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Company Profile

Sempra operates as an energy infrastructure company in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: Sempra California, Sempra Texas Utilities, and Sempra Infrastructure. The Sempra California segment provides electric services; and natural gas services to San Diego County.